[11] Jay Tysick, the party's first leader, is a former member of the Progressive Conservatives and chief of staff for Ottawa City Councillor Rick Chiarelli.

Tysick indicated to media that he was driven to organize a new party after being prevented from running for the PC nomination in the Ottawa-area riding of Carleton.

[14] Later that month, Chatham-Kent—Leamington MPP Rick Nicholls joined the party to become its first sitting member in the Legislative Assembly.

[20][21] After the election of Derek Sloan as leader, media and experts began styling the party as "right-wing" to "far-right" in its ideology.

[4][5] The Ontario Party espouses right-wing and socially-conservative opinions on social issues.